Forman pleased with way free agency worked out

Bulls GM missed out on biggest names, but ended up with roster that fit team

May 14, 2011|By Vaughn McClure, Tribune Reporter

Bulls general manager Gar Forman scanned the court at the Berto Center on Saturday, watching Carlos Boozer shoot free throws at one end and Kyle Korver fire 3-pointers at the other.

Yes, it could have been LeBron James or Dwyane Wade practicing on the floor instead, but Forman has no regrets with how the Bulls fared last year in free agency. And he has a Co-Executive of the Year award to prove it.

"We were meeting with a lot of different guys and there were a lot of different scenarios we were looking at,'' Forman recalled. "I thought we had good conversations with all the guys.''

Forman was referring to the pitches made to James, Wade, Chris Bosh, Boozer, and David Lee during the free-agency bonanza of last summer. The Bulls also reached out to Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire early in the process but it was clear both were prepared to sign maximum deals elsewhere.

James was the most intriguing courtship of them all. He told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel he, like Wade, considered the Bulls for a couple of days. Even before he made his famous decision to "take his talents to South Beach,'' James raved about Derrick Rose as a future Hall of Famer.

James also was impressed with the video presentation the Bulls put together, which included Motorola CEO Greg Brown explaining the great marketing opportunities James would have in Chicago and Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher raving about how great a sports town Chicago would be for James.

Forman never thought James or Wade were playing him for a fool.

"We wouldn't have met with guys if we didn't think there was sincere interest,'' Forman said. "We thought we had a lot of positives, with the nucleus of guys we had coming back and our market and everything else.

"I don't want to get into specifics with each guy. There were a number of quality free agents on the market. But there were more teams with money than there were players. And that's why we mapped out a number of scenarios and had to be ready to react.''

The Bulls immediate reaction was signing Boozer to five-year, $75 million deal as James and Bosh decided to join Wade in Miami.

"I think he was the first guy we met with,'' Forman said of Boozer. "We touched based with him the first day and he came in the very next day.

"We always thought Carlos would be a real fit. We obviously did a lot of background on him. We knew he was high character. Carlos has been a huge part of the success we've had this year.''